The man wet his finger putting it on the face of the candidate saying “now I am inked for you. Damned I am, if I do not vote for you.”
The campaign poster was of Hadba al-Hasnawi, who is running for Iraqi parliament on the Ansar al-Haq (Truth Defenders) list in Najaf.
The man was from the al-Majatim tribe in Najaf. Hasnawi is from al-Bouzeib tribe. After the footage was released, the Bouzeib tribe demanded the offender’s handover.
It was first announced that the problem was resolved after the man’s family paid 40 million dinars. But later, Hansawi rejected the reports saying they had not asked for money to resolve the issue.
She suggested that others had encouraged the man to act against her in order to harm her personality and tarnish her image.
Other footage was later published showing the problem was resolved through money. Both sides confirmed the accuracy of the footage, saying the problem was resolved after the offender’s family paid 100 million dinars ($84,000) to the offended.
The father of the offender apologized to the family of Hasnawi, saying the Bouzeib tribe’s family was right and that his son deserved to be punished.
“In deed the amount we paid was symbolic. The woman’s tribe was right and they have all the rights on how to punish the offender. We thank them for not retaliating in another way,” said the father.
For her part, the female candidate said she would continue in her campaigning.
“Despite the assault on the poster, I will carry on,” she said. “Those who do not know how law works, we will teach them and how to respect it.”
Since the start of campaigning on April 14, female candidates’ posters have been disrespected.
The Victory (Nasr) Coalition of Haider al-Abadi withdrew the candidacy of one of its members after an alleged sex tape of her was circulated online. The candidate said the video is a fake and a plot against her, but has submitted her resignation.
Receiving the amount of the money by Hasnawi’s family drew condemnation on social media with many saying she received enough money to afford her campaign.
“Are you going to resolve people’s problems if you become a parliamentarian in this way?” posited one of her followers on Facebook.
Another person claimed “even if you do not receive enough votes, you at least received your six-month salary as a parliamentarian.”
In Iraq's parliamentary elections on May 12, 503 candidates (357 men, 146 female) will try to win 329 seats. Iraq has a 25 percent quote system for gender.
